Publications

11 Nov 2010
News

The Jazz Process: Diversity Breeds Success

21 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

Bio-Piracy: When Western Firms Usurp Eastern Medicine

In May 1995, two scientists at the University of Mississippi were granted an American patent for the use of turmeric to treat flesh wounds. Soon thereafter, an Indian research organization won a lawsuit challenging the novelty of the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Legal Services; Biotechnology

07 Feb 2017
News

How Immigrants Have Contributed to American Inventiveness

26 Mar 2014
HBS Seminar

Brian Kahin, MIT

09 Nov 2011
News

Resistance Is Futile

26 Nov 2013
First Look

First Look: November 26

productivity growth is between 1.6 and 2.4 depending upon weighting. Download working paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2354388 Standard-Essential Patents By: Lerner, Josh, and Jean Tirole Abstract—A major policy issue in standard setting... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2013 (Revised February 2016)
Teaching Note

The LEGO Group: Publish or Protect?

By: Willy Shih

Senior managers at the LEGO Group are faced with a quandary: Should they patent inventions coming out of their manufacturing process development work, should they keep them as trade secrets, or should they publish them so that they would go into the public domain and... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property Management; Spillovers; Intellectual Property; Patents; Knowledge Dissemination; Manufacturing Industry; Europe

27 Jul 2017
News

Lessons from America’s Golden Age of Innovation

06 Jun 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas: June 6, 2017

results reveal the critical importance of software portfolio design decisions in developing a portfolio of applications that can evolve and adapt over time. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52707 Harvard Business School Case... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 Oct 2016
News

Baker Library Exhibit Focuses On Polaroid & Edwin Land

13 Jan 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Intermediaries for the IP Market

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu & David Yoffie

2022
Working Paper

Talent Flows and the Geography of Knowledge Production: Causal Evidence from Multinational Firms

By: Dany Bahar, Prithwiraj Choudhury, Sara Signorelli and James M. Sappenfield

Leveraging a unique dataset merging patent data with all work-related migration reforms that took place in 15 countries over 26 years, we show that reforms discouraging inventor mobility decrease the patenting of MNE subsidiaries within a country, while reforms... View Details

Keywords: Migration; Technology; Policy Evaluation; Patents; Information Technology; Immigration; Policy; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Globalization

SSRN

Read Now

02 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: May 2, 2017

loans. Our results suggest that both sides of the balance sheet contribute meaningfully to bank value creation, with the liability side playing a primary role. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52259 What Is a View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

July 1999 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Quickturn Design Systems, Inc. (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Katharina Pick

Quickturn Design Systems, Inc. faces a hostile takeover bid from its competitor, Mentor Graphics. Mentor makes the bid at a moment when Quickturn's stock price is depressed and the company is defending against a patent suit filed by Mentor. The two companies have a... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Governing and Advisory Boards; Behavior; Lawsuits and Litigation; Organizations; Acquisition; Corporate Governance; Service Industry

Find at Harvard

September 2010 (Revised July 2013)
Case

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals: Building Value from the IP Estate

By: Willy C. Shih and Sen Chai

The learning objective of this case is to help students recognize the interplay between intellectual property (IP) rights and corporate strategy. We do this by examining what is a fairly atypical circumstance today in which a single firm is able to secure what it... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; Rights; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

February 2010
Case

Real Blue? Viagra and Intellectual Property Rights Law in China

By: Regina M. Abrami and Tracy Manty

On July 5, 2004, Pfizer's China team received disappointing news. China's patent review board just invalidated the company's existing patent on one of its most successful drugs, Viagra. Making matters worse, a Guangdong-based pharmaceutical company laid claim to... View Details

Keywords: Trade; International Relations; Patents; Trademarks; Lawsuits and Litigation; Rights; Business and Government Relations; Pharmaceutical Industry; China

What do free weights and academic research about patent trolls have in common? If you’re Lauren Cohen, the L.E. Simmons Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, more than you’d think. Professor Cohen, a competitive powerlifter and... View Details

18 Sep 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Female Inventors and Inventions

Keywords: by Rembrand Koning, Sampsa Samila, and John-Paul Ferguson; Health; Biotechnology; Medical Devices & Supplies

January 1995 (Revised November 1995)
Case

Candela Laser vs. Cynosure, Inc.

By: Josh Lerner and Benjamin Conway

Summarizes the lawsuit by Candela Laser against its former CEO and founder, who has begun a competing firm. The extent of patent and trade secret protection are crucial issues. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; Entrepreneurship